Lenses

This is very probably the next lens I purchase – unless I get the Batis 85mm f/1.8. I love the slightly longer reach for portraiture (I don’t believe in soft focus lenses), and the Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 macro has…macro. Sharpness – my personal holy grail in lenses, along with micro-contrast – is top-notch. Only something this good could pry my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro from my hands.

This was the lens that put the first nail in the coffin of my Canon fan-boy status. It crushed my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 USM II in sharpness, contrast, autofocus speed and silence. Put in on a Sony a6000 like I did, and you’ve got an amazing portrait lens with depth of field so shallow that you really can’t want for more.

If you need a really wide angle lens for your E-mount camera, this is the one to get. It’s just as sharp as the Zeiss Touit 12mm, but is a third less expensive and more versatile. Neither is as sharp as the best longer focal length primes, but it is a match for the Canon EF-S 10-18mm IS STM -- which I own and find plenty sharp in the real world.

If you want a fast sharp 35mm prime for your Sony E-mount camera, this is the one. On a full frame Sony a7 series, it’s an outstanding street photography lens. On an APS-C E-mount Sony, it’s a fantastic “normal” lens. In either case, it dusts any of the zooms that include 35mm in their range. Yes, it’s pricey – and if you’re not wedded to the focal length, Sony’s own FE 28mm f/2.0 is every bit as sharp (DxOMark rated the 28mm a hair sharper), almost as fast and much smaller and lighter – at just about ¼ the price. But ooh, does the Distagon feel good in your hand.

I haven’t gone hands-on with the Batis 85mm f/1.8, but the reviews are out and by all accounts it is an incredibly sharp, fast, auto-focusing, and compact full-frame portrait lens for the Sony E-mount. If you don’t need macro focusing at this focal length, this is the ticket. It ain’t cheap, but it isn’t exorbitant either. The OLED display? Doesn’t rock me one way or the other.

Back in the old days of Canon FD lenses (when they were new), I preferred the 24mm focal length to 28mm. The differences in field of view and perspective were plain to see. So I’m inclined to love the Batis 25mm f/2.0, even though I haven’t held it in my hands. All reports say it’s super-sharp – and it’s not outrageously expensive. If I had the cash, I’d look at it closely. On the other hand, I personally opted to plunk down just about 1/3 the dough on a Sony FE 28mm f/2.0 without waiting to test the Batis. I figure I can learn to live with the difference in perspective or change it in post if I really want to do so.

I love the IDEA of the Loxia line – manual focusing, fast, tack-sharp, weighty primes. And the way you want to go when using for video. Haven’t had one in hand, but believe me, I will. If I bought only one, it would be this 35mm as it gives me more flexibility: wide-angle on full frame, normal angle on the a6000.

If you’re a micro four thirds kind of guy or gal, you owe it to yourself to try any of the Voigtländer Noktons. They are sharp, contrasty, lovely to use and hold primes that take me back to the days of my youth before autofocus and autoexposure. On an MFT camera, that f/0.95 maximum aperture translates into an effective full frame equivalent of f/1.9, which while not as impressive still gives you wonderfully shallow depth of field. Thus think of the Nokton 17.5mm as a manual focus, 35mm f/1.9 full frame equivalent, very much like the Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2. I tested the 17.5mm, 25mm and 42.5 lenses with the GH4, and if the GH4 had had a Sony sensor, I would have gone micro four thirds right then and there.

I’ll write it again: if you’re a micro four thirds kind of guy or gal, you owe it to yourself to try the Voigtländer Noktons. I can tell you from personal experience (with the exception of the 10.5mm, which wasn’t available at the time) that they are sharp, contrasty, lovely to use and hold primes that take me back to the days of my youth before autofocus and autoexposure. On an MFT camera, that f/0.95 maximum aperture translates into an effective full frame equivalent of f/1.9, which while not as impressive still gives you wonderfully shallow depth of field. Think of this Nokton 25mm as the closest thing in the micro four thirds world to the Zeiss Loxia 50mm f/2. If the GH4 had had a Sony sensor, I would have gone micro four thirds back in 2014. Sigh. Everything is a trade-off.

Once more, with feeling: if you’re a micro four thirds kind of guy or gal, you owe it to yourself to try the Voigtländer Noktons. I can tell you from personal experience (with the exception of the 10.5mm, which wasn’t available at the time) that they are sharp, contrasty, lovely to use and hold primes that take me back to the days of my youth before autofocus and autoexposure. On an MFT camera, that f/0.95 maximum aperture translates into an effective full frame equivalent of f/1.9, which while not as impressive still gives you wonderfully shallow depth of field. Think of this Nokton 42.5mm Nkton as the closest thing in the micro four thirds world to the Zeiss Loxia 50mm they haven’t made yet: a manual focus, 85mm f/1.9 portrait lens with great image quality. If the GH4 had had a Sony sensor, I would have gone micro four thirds back in 2014. Sigh. Everything is a trade-off.

If you’re a Canon APS-C shooter (the Rebel series, the 60D or 70D and earlier XXD series, the 7D or 7D Mk II, or the newest T6i/750D and T6s/760D) and want a reasonably priced, lightweight telephoto zoom with fast and silent autofocus, this is the lens for you. It’s perfect for travel photography and capturing images of your children outdoors, but with this written it is not nearly as sharp or fast (aperture-wise) as Canon’s legendary EF 70-200mm f/2.8L (not nearly as heavy, expensive or conspicuous, either). Fact is, I sold off my 70-200 and replaced it with EF-S 55-250mm IS STM (make sure you get the STM), as for my purposes -- especially outdoor video on an APS-C camera -- it actually does a better job.

Canon’s EF 50mm f/1.8 II has been called the “nifty 50” and “plastic fantastic” because of its price/performance ratio, but the brand new STM version is as good or better – much better – in every way. It’s the perfect first additional lens to buy beyond a kit lens, as that shallow depth of field is amazing – as is the low price.

I loved this lens when I used it with my Leica M8. Incredibly small, silky smooth, robust, fast, and sharp, sharp, sharp. Expensive? Wildly so. Worth it? Only if you can afford it, like the field of view, and want to shoot manually. Then? Oh, baby. I sold off the M8 because I realized I’m not a rangefinder guy (in spite of the fact that my very first experience with a 35mm camera was a Leica III), but there are days I regret selling the 35mm Summicron, too. Now, I could put it on my a6000 with an adapter. Sigh.

If you’re a Leica person, this is the portrait lens for you (they no longer make the 90mm I had, the Elmar 2.8 . Like the 35mm Summicron I owned when I had my Leica M8, it’s incredibly small, silky smooth, robust, fast, and sharp, sharp, sharp. Expensive? Just like the 35mm, wildly so. Worth it? Just like the 35mm, only if you can afford it, like the field of view, and want to shoot manually. Then? Oh, baby.

I owned Canon’s legendary 200mm f/1.8L telephoto for years, when I used it not for professional purposes but to photograph my girls on stage dancing, acting and singing. It was a mind-blowing lens, crushing another legendary Canon lens I owned back then, the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L. Crushed it. Mauled it. Humiliated it. It’s no longer available, but an update – this 200mm f/2.0 -- is. It is freaking expensive, but if you’ve got the money and need what it can do, I can’t imagine this update is any less breathtaking.

If I were a Canon camera owner, I would look long and hard at all three of the Sigma Art lenses.Let’s talk about this 24 from Sigma. I love the field of view and perspective of a 24mm lens on a full frame camera, much preferring it even to 28mm. I know that sounds picky, but it’s true – and this is going back 40 years to my own Canon FD 24mm f/2.8. I recently tested the Canon CN-E24mm T1.5L Cine Prime and loved these same things about it, along with its the incredibly shallow depth of field and sharpness. But for 1/6th the price of the cine lens and just about half the price for Canon’s own EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM, you can get Sigma’s new 24mm f/1.4 Art Lens which by all accounts (I have not had one in my hands) is as good or better. That leaves a lot of money on the table for other things…like more lenses, or the price of a trip on which to use them. Sounds like a plan to me.

Yeah, yeah: I’m writing for the third time that “If I were a Canon camera owner, I would look long and hard at all three of the Sigma Art lenses.” A 50mm lens on a full frame sensor is the classic “normal” or standard field of view lens, while on an APS-C sensor, it’s a nice portrait lens. The thing is, Sigma’s $949 50mm Art lens is sharper than every other EF mount 50mm out there with the exception of Zeiss’ $3,999 55mm Otus f/1.4 – but the Otus scores higher by only 1 point. Yes, Canon’s own EF 50mm f/1.4 is only a couple of points behind the Sigma on sharpness, does a little better on chromatic aberration and costs less than half of the Sigma, but having owned the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 and loved its creamy quality wide open, I’d pay the extra bucks for the Sigma and call it a day (and my travel agent).

Did I just write that “If I were a Canon camera owner, I would look long and hard at all three of the Sigma Art lenses?” Yes I did. Let’s talk about the 35 from Sigma. On a full frame camera, 35: 35mm is perhaps THE focal length for street photography, and with a maximum aperture of f/1.4, there’s basically no time of day or night you can’t capture your image. Carl Zeiss makes the renowned Distagon T 35mm f/1.4 ($1,543), and Canon has a new version of their 35mm f/1.4L USM – the 1.4L II USM – at $1,799. But for about half the price of any of the three, you can get Sigma’s 35mm f/1.4 Art Lens which DxOMark measures assharper. Again: that leaves a lot of money on the table for other things…like more lenses, or the price of a trip on which to use them. Sounds like a plan to me.